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turn it into an interactive floor plan with live booth sales, exhibitor profiles and wayfinding.",{"home":25,"compare":26,"page":27},"Home","Compare","ExpoFP vs AutoCAD",{"badgeText":29,"headline":22,"subheadline":30,"ctaLabels":31,"bullets":35},"Comparison Guide","Keep the DWG as your source drawing, and stop emailing PDFs that go out of date a week after you send them.",[32,33,34],"Try ExpoFP Free","Book a Demo","See Pricing",[36,37],"Prepared by the ExpoFP product team","Last verified: {lastVerified}",{"stats":39},[40,43,46,49],{"value":41,"caption":42},"Free to start","Build and test your plan before you pay",{"value":44,"caption":45},"{trialDays}-day trial","No credit card required",{"value":47,"caption":48},"DIY from {diyPrice}\u002Fmo","Organizer builds the map in FP Designer",{"value":50,"caption":51},"No app needed","Attendees open the map in any browser",[53,54,55,56,57,58],"Overview","Comparison","Costs","How to switch","FAQ","Related pages",{"heading":53,"lead":60,"paragraphs":61},"AutoCAD is one of the best drafting tools there is. Venues, architects, stand builders and general service contractors use it to produce precise, to-scale drawings: column grids, fire exits, rigging points, utility drops, hall dimensions. When a convention center hands you a hall plan, it very often started life as a DWG file, and AutoCAD LT gives smaller teams the same 2D drafting core for less money. If you need to know whether a 3x3 m booth fits between two columns and a fire lane, nothing beats a CAD drawing.",[62,63],"The trouble starts once that drawing has to work as an event floor plan. In most shows the venue or decorator owns the master CAD file. The organizer asks for an updated PDF, marks up booth numbers, and sends it to exhibitors, sponsors and the website team. From then on the PDF is a snapshot. Booth status lives in a spreadsheet, every sale or swap means asking for a re-export, and the version on your website is rarely the version in the sales team's inbox. Attendees can't search a PDF for a company, filter by category or get directions to a booth, and exhibitors can't reserve or pay for a space from it.","This page is for organizers who **draw their floor plan in AutoCAD** (or receive a DWG from their venue or decorator) and are looking for an **AutoCAD alternative for trade show floor plans**: something that keeps the CAD drawing as the accurate base layer while handling **live booth availability**, **online booth sales**, **exhibitor profiles** and **attendee wayfinding** without the export-and-email loop.",{"heading":65,"cards":66},"Quick verdict",[67,74],{"title":68,"items":69},"Keep using AutoCAD if",[70,71,72,73],"You (or your venue, architect or stand builder) need engineering-accurate drawings for permits, fire marshal approval, rigging or utilities.","The plan is an internal working document that never goes in front of exhibitors or attendees.","You only run one small event a year, the layout never changes after it's published, and no booths are sold online.","Your team already has AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT seats and the drawing only needs to be shared with production partners.",{"title":75,"items":76},"Switch to ExpoFP if",[77,78,79,80,81],"You keep exporting PDFs from the DWG and resending them every time a booth is sold, moved or merged.","Booth status is tracked in a separate spreadsheet and you've had (or come close to) a double booking.","You want exhibitors to see live availability and reserve or pay for booths directly on the map.","Attendees need to search for exhibitors, filter by category and get turn-by-turn directions on their phones, with no app download.","You want sponsorship inventory (featured placements, banner ads, logos in booths) and analytics on searches, booth views and routes.",{"heading":83,"featureColumnLabel":84,"rows":85},"Feature-by-feature comparison","Feature",[86,93,100,107,114,121,128,135,142,149,155,162,169,176,182,188],{"title":87,"cells":88},"Purpose-built for event floor plans",[89,91],{"text":90},"Yes. Interactive floor plan platform for trade shows, expos, conferences, fairs and venues",{"text":92},"No. General-purpose 2D\u002F3D CAD for architecture, engineering and drafting",{"title":94,"cells":95},"Drawing \u002F editing booths",[96,98],{"text":97},"Drag, drop, merge and resize booths in the browser with FP Designer; changes go live instantly",{"text":99},"Precise drafting with full CAD tools; requires CAD skills and a desktop license",{"title":101,"cells":102},"Import an existing plan",[103,105],{"text":104},"Upload an existing floor plan file or image and the ExpoFP team builds it, or draw it yourself in FP Designer",{"text":106},"Native DWG; can export PDF and images",{"title":108,"cells":109},"Live booth availability",[110,112],{"text":111},"Yes. Exhibitors see availability on the map in real time",{"text":113},"No. Status has to be shown manually (colors, layers) and re-exported",{"title":115,"cells":116},"Booth reservations",[117,119],{"text":118},"Exhibitors reserve directly on the map; organizer approves and tracks in one place",{"text":120},"Not available; handled by email, forms or spreadsheets",{"title":122,"cells":123},"Online booth payments",[124,126],{"text":125},"Exhibitors can purchase by credit card on the map (not on the Light plan)",{"text":127},"Not available",{"title":129,"cells":130},"Exhibitor profiles & directory",[131,133],{"text":132},"Logo, description and contacts attached to each booth; searchable directory",{"text":134},"Text labels in the drawing only",{"title":136,"cells":137},"Exhibitor self-service updates",[138,140],{"text":139},"Personal auto-login link; exhibitors fill in their profile, organizer approves",{"text":141},"Not available; organizer edits the drawing",{"title":143,"cells":144},"Attendee search & filters",[145,147],{"text":146},"Search by company, booth or category; category filters; bookmarks",{"text":148},"Not available in an exported PDF beyond basic text search",{"title":150,"cells":151},"Wayfinding \u002F routes",[152,154],{"text":153},"Turn-by-turn routes, accessible routes across floors and buildings; blue-dot, GPS and QR positioning available",{"text":127},{"title":156,"cells":157},"Mobile experience",[158,160],{"text":159},"Browser-based, mobile-ready; no app, no sign-in",{"text":161},"PDF or image viewed on a phone; pinch and zoom",{"title":163,"cells":164},"Sharing & website embedding",[165,167],{"text":166},"Custom URL (yourevent.expofp.com), embed in websites and event apps, kiosks",{"text":168},"Email or upload a PDF\u002Fimage; Autodesk viewers for DWG",{"title":170,"cells":171},"Updating after changes",[172,174],{"text":173},"Edit once; every link, embed and kiosk updates instantly",{"text":175},"Edit DWG, re-export, re-send, re-upload",{"title":177,"cells":178},"Sponsorship \u002F monetization",[179,181],{"text":180},"Sponsored listings, featured placements, banner ads, logos in booths, booth extras, packages",{"text":127},{"title":183,"cells":184},"Analytics",[185,187],{"text":186},"Included on every plan: searches, booth views, routes, exhibitor activity, per-kiosk analytics",{"text":127},{"title":189,"cells":190},"Cost",[191,193],{"text":192},"Free to start ({trialDays}-day trial); DIY {diyPrice}\u002Fmo; Light {lightPrice}, Standard {standardPrice}, Pro {proPrice} one-time (≤100 booths; scales with booth count)",{"text":194},"Annual subscription per user; full AutoCAD is commonly listed at roughly $1,800–$2,000\u002Fyr in the US, AutoCAD LT considerably less. Check current pricing on autodesk.com",{"heading":196,"paragraphs":197},"What the old workflow really costs",[198,199,200],"Picture a typical mid-size expo. The venue's CAD team or your decorator holds the master DWG. Three months out, you get a PDF with booth numbers and send it to your sales team and your returning exhibitors. A week later, two 3x3 booths are merged for a sponsor, an island is shifted to clear a fire lane, and a corner booth is sold. The sales lead updates the booth-status spreadsheet, but the PDF on the website still shows the old layout. Someone asks the decorator for a re-export, which arrives three days later, and by then two more booths have changed.","Meanwhile, two salespeople are working from different versions of the spreadsheet. Both offer booth 412 to different companies, and one of them has to make an awkward call. Exhibitors email asking whether their logo will appear on the map, and the answer is \"only on the printed one, if we get it in before the print deadline.\" On show day the printed maps and the lobby signage reflect the layout from two weeks ago, attendees can't find the late additions, and you have no data on which areas actually got traffic.","None of this is AutoCAD's fault. It's doing exactly what it was built for. The cost comes from using a static drawing as the live system of record for sales, exhibitors and attendees.",{"heading":202,"columnLabels":203,"rows":207},"Before vs after",[204,205,206],"Step","Before","After",[208,212,216,220,224],{"title":209,"before":210,"after":211},"Sharing the plan","Export PDF from DWG, email it, upload it to the website.","One live link at yourevent.expofp.com, embedded on your site and in your event app.",{"title":213,"before":214,"after":215},"Selling a booth","Email back and forth, update the spreadsheet, request a re-export.","The exhibitor sees live availability, reserves (and can pay by card) on the map, and you approve it in one place.",{"title":217,"before":218,"after":219},"Changing the layout","Wait for the CAD owner to edit and re-export, then resend everything.","Drag, merge or resize booths in FP Designer and the change goes live everywhere instantly.",{"title":221,"before":222,"after":223},"Exhibitor details","Collect logos and descriptions by email and paste them in yourself.","Each exhibitor gets a personal auto-login link, fills in their profile, and you approve it.",{"title":225,"before":226,"after":227},"Show day","Printed maps that are already out of date.","A searchable, mobile map with turn-by-turn wayfinding, kiosks with \"you are here\", and analytics on what people searched and visited.",{"heading":229,"paragraph":230,"buttonLabels":231},"Keep your CAD drawing. Lose the PDF loop.","Upload your DWG, PDF or image and get an interactive floor plan with live booth sales, exhibitor profiles and wayfinding. Free to start, {trialDays}-day trial, no credit card.",[32,33,34],{"heading":233,"steps":234},"How to move from AutoCAD to ExpoFP",[235,238,241,244,247],{"title":236,"text":237},"Keep AutoCAD as the source drawing and export it","Ask your venue, decorator or CAD team for the current hall drawing as a DWG, PDF or high-resolution image. The CAD file stays the reference for dimensions, columns, exits and utilities.",{"title":239,"text":240},"Upload it or draw it in FP Designer","On the Light, Standard or Pro plans, upload the exported file and the ExpoFP team builds the interactive map for you. On the DIY plan ({diyPrice}\u002Fmo), use the drag-and-drop FP Designer to place, merge and resize booths over your plan in the browser.",{"title":242,"text":243},"Import your exhibitors","Bring in your exhibitor list, or connect ExpoFP to your registration, ticketing or CRM system so exhibitor data flows both ways (JSON API and developer docs are available). Send each exhibitor their personal auto-login link so they can add their logo, description and contacts for your approval.",{"title":245,"text":246},"Open booth reservations","Turn on booth reservation so exhibitors can see live availability and reserve or purchase booths by credit card directly on the map (online payments are not on the Light plan). Add sponsorship options like featured placements, banner ads and logos in booths.",{"title":248,"text":249},"Share, embed and deploy","Publish at your custom URL, embed the map on your event website and in your event app, and set up kiosks for show day. If the venue sends a revised DWG later, update the affected booths in FP Designer and every link updates at once. Next year, copy the map and exhibitors to the new event.",{"heading":251,"paragraphs":252},"When AutoCAD is still the right choice",[253],"AutoCAD remains the right tool for the work it was designed for: permanent building drawings, venue architecture, CAD-accurate engineering plans, fire and life-safety layouts, rigging and electrical plans, and the detailed stand drawings that builders and contractors work from. If your venue or decorator maintains a master DWG, keep it. It should stay the authoritative source for dimensions and approvals, and AutoCAD LT is a sensible, lower-cost option if your team only needs 2D drafting. ExpoFP doesn't replace that drawing. It sits on top of it and turns the layout into something exhibitors can buy from and attendees can navigate, so the CAD file can go back to being an engineering document instead of a sales and visitor tool.",{"heading":57,"items":255},[256,259,262,265,268,271],{"question":257,"answer":258},"Can I import my AutoCAD floor plan into ExpoFP?","Yes. Export your drawing as a DWG, PDF or image and upload it; on the Light, Standard and Pro plans the ExpoFP team builds the interactive map from your file. On the DIY plan you can draw booths yourself in the drag-and-drop FP Designer using your plan as the reference. Either way, your AutoCAD file stays the master drawing.",{"question":260,"answer":261},"Is AutoCAD good for trade show floor plans?","AutoCAD is excellent for drawing an accurate, to-scale hall layout, and many venues and decorators use it for exactly that. Where it falls short is everything after the drawing: it produces static files, so booth availability, exhibitor details, online booth sales and attendee navigation all have to be handled somewhere else. Most organizers end up pairing it with PDFs, spreadsheets and email.",{"question":263,"answer":264},"How much does ExpoFP cost compared with AutoCAD?","ExpoFP is free to start with a {trialDays}-day trial and no credit card. The DIY plan is {diyPrice}\u002Fmonth with booth reservation and sponsorship included, and done-for-you plans are {lightPrice} (Light), {standardPrice} (Standard) or {proPrice} (Pro) one-time for up to 100 booths, scaling with booth count. AutoCAD is an annual per-user subscription, with the full product commonly listed at around $1,800–$2,000 a year in the US and AutoCAD LT considerably less; check autodesk.com for current pricing in your region.",{"question":266,"answer":267},"Do attendees need an app?","No. ExpoFP floor plans run in the browser and are mobile-ready, with no app download and no sign-in. Attendees can search by company, booth or category, save favorites and get turn-by-turn directions from a link, a QR code or an embed on your website.",{"question":269,"answer":270},"Can exhibitors book booths themselves?","Yes. Exhibitors see live booth availability on the map and can reserve or purchase a booth by credit card directly from it, while you approve and track everything in one place. Online payment collection is available on all plans except Light.",{"question":272,"answer":273},"Can I keep using AutoCAD alongside ExpoFP?","Yes, and most organizers who work with CAD drawings do. Your venue, decorator or CAD team keeps maintaining the DWG for dimensions, approvals and build-out, and ExpoFP becomes the live, public-facing version for booth sales, exhibitor profiles and wayfinding. When the CAD drawing changes, you update the affected booths in ExpoFP and every link, embed and kiosk updates instantly.",{"heading":58,"items":275},[276,280,284,288,292,296],{"title":277,"text":278,"linkLabel":279},"Compare ExpoFP","See how ExpoFP stacks up against other floor plan tools.","Browse comparisons",{"title":281,"text":282,"linkLabel":283},"ExpoFP alternatives","An honest look at the options.","Read the guide",{"title":285,"text":286,"linkLabel":287},"Pricing","DIY, Light, Standard and Pro plans.","See pricing",{"title":289,"text":290,"linkLabel":291},"Exhibition floor plan software","What an interactive floor plan platform does.","Learn more",{"title":293,"text":294,"linkLabel":295},"ExpoFP vs Microsoft Visio","For teams drawing plans in Visio.","Read the comparison",{"title":297,"text":298,"linkLabel":295},"ExpoFP vs PDF floor plans","Why static PDFs fall behind.",{"heading":300,"paragraph":301,"buttonLabels":302},"Turn your DWG into a floor plan that sells booths and guides visitors.","Trusted by 1,000+ trade shows and expos in 50+ countries. Free to start, {trialDays}-day trial, no credit card.",[32,33,34],{"heading":304,"body":305},"Disclaimer","Information on this page is based on publicly available product materials and may change over time. AutoCAD is a trademark of its respective owner. 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